-Chapter 43-

-298 AC-

-1st day of the 11th moon-

-POV Tywin-

"So Stannis has besieged the capital as we speak," said the king.

"Yes," I said to the king, who did not seem disturbed by the fact that the siege of his power was now in the hands of his sworn enemy.

"And how are the negotiations with the mountain savages going?" he asked me with the air of someone who was asking a question to which he already knew the answer.

"We have not made progress," I said, a bit nervous in the face of the irritated grimace of this very young king who really made me uncomfortable.

"Damn it," he said, slamming his fist lightly on the table.

"We need to destroy that fort within the week, if we can reach Gulltown before the end of the month we could end this war before the end of this year," he said, pacing around while staring at the sky blocked by the roof of his tent.

"Stannis' fleet was pushed back, but his second army coming by land has joined what remained of his fleet, it still surrounds the capital, and may I remind you that it consists of 40,000 men which would bring the total forces of Stannis Baratheon to at least 50,000 soldiers, which is more or less similar to the forces defending the capital," I added.

"They defend the city," he said, trying to evade the real issue.

"But they won't be able to stay like this indefinitely for several months because food will become scarce and the common people might rebel then you would lose everything you have fought for from the beginning," I said.

"The Tyrells?" he asked me again.

"They are observing the situation...they would return to the royal fold but only if you give them the command while reiterating some promises and assurances," I said, although I already knew the answer to that.

"It's out of the question, I can beat Stannis alone, I don't need to promise them anything to achieve this, they will bleed us dry after the war," he said,

although I agree that the Reach, which is the granary of the entire continent as well as that of part of the Free Cities, would help us cushion the blow that famine would deal once this war is over, I also think it was simpler and more pragmatic to accept their help and then bleed them dry.

"They have 70,000 men ready to fight for you, you must not govern with your emotions, you must make your decisions coldly and without hesitation while listening to the advice of your counselors especially when they are right and you are aware of it."

"Fine, I understand that you're trying to influence me and get your hooks into me, it wasn't already very discreet with Cersei who almost insinuated that she would remarry me if I legitimized her bastards," he said, dodging the real topic of our discussion.

Although I know he was changing the subject intentionally he managed to hit a nerve because I responded almost instantly: "They are not bastards, it was pure slander."

He rolled his eyes and said while pouring two cups of wine:

"Tywin, they are bastards, I saw Jaime and his sister with my own eyes at Winterfell, how do you think I knew?"

"Lies," I said, annoyed.

He smiled and then said in a colder tone: "I don't care what you believe but don't call me a liar because most of the time I don't lie."

"It's the first time I hear someone say they don't lie most of the time," I said, laughing mockingly a bit as I took the cup he was offering me.

We sat for a few minutes in silence then I finally broke the uncomfortable silence to ask:

"So what do we do, Your Majesty?"

"Call back all our men, we are marching towards the capital," he said, finally understanding that passing the Bloody Gate was not a feasible idea, not after he had wasted all the pots of Wildfyre he had on Riverrun.

"Perfect," I said, relieved not to have another Aerys as king.

"I want you to lead the infantry, meanwhile, I will lead the cavalry to catch up on my delay we will be at King's Landing in less than a week at most, send ravens to King's Landing asking them to wait because we will return to the capital in less than a month."

"Covering our tracks, smart, but Stannis will surely suspect it's a ruse."

"It's possible, but Stannis will not stop, he's a fanatic with a fixed idea in his head, the Iron Throne, nothing else, and as long as he hasn't sat on it with his ass he will not give up, surely not so close to the goal."

"Then we will do so, the maximum number of horsemen I can gather is 5,000 cavalry," said Tywin.

"I have more than 8,000 horsemen in the Dark Guard and 4,000 horsemen in the Royal Army, with the captured horses I can inflate the number of horsemen to 15,000," he said, becoming again the wise king I was increasingly considering following, the king who could save my legacy.

"So in total, we would have 20,000 cavalrymen, I hope that will be enough to stop Stannis Baratheon."

"If I play my cards right, it will be more than enough," said the young king with a glimmer that I've learned to recognize, the glimmer of an ambitious plan, risky but with incredible returns